Dust control products are generally designed to collect dust, dirt, soil and other particulate matter by either: wiping or mopping dirty surfaces, such as floors; or, by serving as entrance mats upon which people wipe their feet as they enter buildings, vehicles or certain rooms. In the case of mats, such as floor mats, since the mats are usually placed just inside an entrance to a building or vehicle, people often wipe their wet or muddy feet on the mat. The mats, especially once damp and being situated in the warm interior of the building or vehicle, provide a good environment for breeding bacteria, fungi or various other microorganisms or microbes.
With respect to mops, whether dry dust mops or wet mops, as the mops are moved over floor, wall, counter or furniture surfaces, they may become contaminated with materials which provide a good medium for growth of undesirable organisms, such as harmful bacteria. This is particularly likely to be a problem with wet mops, since they are often stored while still damp and in relatively warm places. Also, during scrubbing, contaminated mops and mats can spread such undesired bacteria.
If, prior to storage, a used mop receives only a cursory cleaning, then, while they are stored, considerable microorganism growth may occur in the mop strands or fibers. When the mop is reused, it may then provide a further means of facilitating spreading of the microorganisms around the workplace and may thereby undesirably lead to the spread of disease, infection or contamination.
Further, the growth of microorganisms in mop or mat fibers, such as through mildewing, can significantly decrease the useful life of the mop or mat because the microorganism or microbial growth may tend to degrade the strength of the fibers of the mop yarns and/or carpet or yarn material utilized. Also, a mop swab attacked by mildew formation may smell sour and the odor may spread throughout the cleaning supplies in the storage room. This may be a particular problem in restaurants where the mops are often stored in the same room as tablecloths, various paper products and napkins. Under such circumstances, the presence of the contaminated mop, in close proximity to the other items, may actually lead to the development of a sour odor in the other stored items.
With respect to mats, it is noted that the floor surface underneath the mats may be a particularly good location for the breeding of undesirable microbes, since it is often warm, and wet, and is in close proximity to materials trapped in carpet fibers of the mat. It is believed that microbial development, in and near the mat, not only is unsanitary, but it may, in some instances, lead to discoloration of the floor surface underneath the mat.
The problems noted above have long been known to the mop and mat industry, and it is common practice for persons utilizing mops to add solutions that contain disinfectants or antimicrobial compounds to solutions used in mop buckets. In the case of mats, it is a known practice to soak the mats in disinfectant solutions prior to or commensurate with mat cleaning.
The above related techniques suffer from a general failure to impart a semi-permanent antimicrobial quality to the mop or mat; for example, such solutions may be easily rinsed out with successive washings of the mop or mat product.
The present invention comprises a method developed to generally alleviate many of the aforementioned problems. Generally, the invention relates to the provision of a bacterial static or antimicrobial compound which is set into the mop or mat during the manufacturing process. The bacterial static or antimicrobial compound, being retained within portions of the mop or mat, will generally not be readily leached during washings. In this manner, the compounds remain in the proximity of the yarn fibers of the mop or mat, where they can generally inhibit bacteria or other microbial growth. Further, such compounds generally provide a zone of inhibition to microbial growth, extending outwardly around the substrate in which the compounds are set. Thus, they will generally aid in inhibiting bacterial or other microbial growth in the general proximity of the yarn or mat product.
When the invention is applied to mats, an antimicrobial or bacterial static solution is added to a base material, such as a plastisol or rubber compound, which will eventually comprise a backing or floor-engaging portion of the mat. When the plastisol or rubber material is fused, or set, the antimicrobial or bacterial static compound is generally retained within the backing and effectively acts from that location.
With respect to the application of the invention for mops, generally the antimicrobial or bacterial static compound is heat set into the mop yarn fibers. This process generally leads to the retention of an antimicrobial effective concentration of the compound in the yarn fibers, even after repeated washings of the mop. It is foreseen that, in some instances, it may be desirable, in mops having some synthetic yarn fibers, to have set the antimicrobial or bacterial static compound into synthetic mop yarns as they are formed. This latter would be by a procedure generally analogous to that utilized for a mat backing.
As indicated above, application of the invention to mops or mats generally significantly enhances the life of the mat or mop product. This may result from a substantial inhibitory effect of the presence of the antimicrobial or bacterial static compound, in proximity to the cellulosic yarn fibers, upon growth of fiber destroying bacteria or microbes. Since microbial growth is substantially inhibited, the yarn fibers of the mat or mop product last considerably longer, and the mat or mop has a longer useful life. Further, certain types of spreading of bacterial- or fungal-type infections may be substantially reduced, if not eliminated, by the utilization of such antimicrobial-enhanced mop and mat products.